1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a door construction in a motor vehicle, and more particulary to improvements in a door construction in a motor vehicle, in which the upper end portion of a door outer panel is covered by a belt molding, to thereby constitute a belt line.
2. Description of the Prior Art
There has heretofore been provided a door construction in a motor vehicle, in which, as shown in FIG. 1 for example, there is provided a door outer panel 1, which has the upper portion being first inwardly bent in the direction of the door thickness and then upwardly bent in a substantial crank shape, to thereby constitute a ledge portion 2 and an upper end welded flange 3 upwardly extending from the inner end of this ledge portion 2, the upper end welded flange 3 of the door outer panel 1 is welded to an upper end welded flange 5 of a reinforcing panel 4, and a belt molding 6 covering the outer surface, top end face and inner surface of the welded flanges 3 and 5 is threadably secured to the inner surface of the reinforcing panel 4 through screws 7.
In the drawing, designated at 8 is a door glass, and 9 an outer weather strip coming into contact with the door glass 8 to seal a space formed between the outer side of the door and the door glass 8.
To mention here, recently, there has been proposed a so-called flush surface type motor vehicle in which, as a means of reducing the air resistance during running of the vehicle, all of the outer surfaces of the vehicle body are made flush with one another.
In the above-described flush surface type motor vehicle, it should be quite natural that a difference in stage between the glass of a side door and the door outer panel is decreased as much as possible to thereby minimize the air resistance.
Further, in general, in order to fulfill a satisfactory side view from the motor vehicle, reducing the weight of the vehicle and improving the style of the vehicle, it is desirable to make the door glass portion of the side door large as possible.
However, in the conventional door construction as shown in FIG. 1, the belt molding 6 has a form to cover not only the welded glanges 3 and 5 of the door outer panel 1 and the reinforcing panel 4 but also the screws 7, so that the thickness and height of the belt molding 6 cannot be satisfactorily reduced. As a consequence, limits have been placed upon reducing a difference in stage at this portion between the outer surface of the door glass and the outer surface of the belt molding 6 extending from the door outer panel 1 or enlarging an opening portion for the door glass 8.
Furtheremore, as described above, the top end portion of the belt molding 6, i.e. a belt line portion is large in the width in the direction of the door thickness, and hence, a so-called crescent-shaped difference in stage is generated at a portion where this belt molding 6 intersects a pillar, not shown, of the vehicle body's side, which is disadvantageous in that the air resistance of the motor vehicle is increased and the outer appearance is diminished.